A lorry driver who killed a mother when he ploughed into the back of her broken-down car has lost an appeal against his ‘severe’ prison sentence.

Jaswinder Arora, of Hounslow Road, Feltham, was using his mobile phone in the minutes before he caused the death of 34-year-old Carmen Bucur, of Alderton, Suffolk, in May 2012.

Although the 45-year-old accepted he was careless, he denied causing death by dangerous driving, but was convicted and jailed for three-and-a-half years at Ipswich Crown Court in August last year.

High Court judges last Friday (January 24) dismissed an appeal by Arora, insisting there was nothing wrong with the term.

“Whilst the sentence of three-and-a-half years is a severe one, the judge was amply entitled to pass it,” said Mrs Justice Ingrid Simler.

Mrs Bucur was being towed along the A14 when Arora smashed into the back of her Vauxhall Corsa. despite having an unobstructed view for eight seconds prior to the collision.

Arora’s lawyers argued his sentence was too long because other factors like the slow speed of the towing van and the fact the Corsa’s hazard lights were off had contributed to the crash.

But dismissing the complaints, Mrs Simler said Arora had done nothing to avoid the collision in the eight seconds he would have been able to see the car.

“For a significant part of the journey, he was inevitably distracted - this was not a momentary lapse of attention,” she said. “It is inevitable that a driver using a mobile phone is distracted. That distraction is likely to continue even after the call and text message.”